Common IBM Cloud ID and billing questions

Common IBM Cloud ID and billing questions

Updated: February 5, 2018

Note: As announced on October 31, 2017, Bluemix has been renamed the IBM Cloud. Read our announcement. References to IBM Cloud infrastructure refer to what was formerly known as SoftLayer. References to IBM Cloud platform refer to what was formerly known as Bluemix.

The IBM Cloud Support and Project Office team receives a variety of common account management questions each day. This article answers these questions to get you pointed in the right direction as quickly as possible.

Log in

Q: When you attempt to log in to IBM Cloud, the log in process fails. How can you fix it?
You must have an active IBM ID and password to log in to IBM Cloud. Your IBM ID is likely an email address unless it was created prior to 2011. If you created your IBM ID prior to 2011, you might have a non-email based IBM ID that is in the form of a unique single word. To confirm that your log in information is correct, logging into My IBM Profile.

If you have forgotten the password that is associated with your IBM ID, you can reset your IBM ID on this page.

Q: When you attempt to log in to IBM Cloud, you receive a “Server error, status code: 403, error code: forbidden, message: No such account” error. How do you resolve it?
Attempt to log in to IBM Cloud through the Cloud Foundry CLI using the following steps:

Replace the [region] variable with the applicable region value where your application is staged. See the following list of region values:

US South: ng

US East: us-east

United Kingdom: eu-gb

Germany: eu-de

Sydney: au-syd

Replace the [your_email_address] variable with the email address that is associated with your account.
Replace the [your_org] variable with the name of your organization as listed in your IBM Cloud account.

Q: When you attempt to log in to IBM Cloud, why is your account status listed as suspended?
New IBM Cloud accounts are created as Lite accounts, which gives you access to a subset of the IBM Cloud catalog for an unlimited period of time. However, you might have a Trial account, which has an expiration date. In these cases, when your account expires, you will have received a notice that your account has been suspended. The notification is sent to the email address on file for the account owner. If you would like to continue to use IBM Cloud, you can enter your billing information at the prompt when you attempt to log in.
Note: Trial accounts cannot be converted to Lite accounts.

Confirmation email message

Q: You did not receive your IBM Cloud confirmation email. How do you get it resent?
There are many reasons why you did not receive the email. Here are some possible solutions:

Check the spam folder of your email client.

Check the rules and filters for your email client to ensure that your email client is not blocking, deleting, or filtering emails received from addresses that include @bluemix.net.

Add @bluemix.net to your email whitelist.

If you have registered and left the thank you window open, click Resend as shown in the following screen shot:

If you have registered and closed the window, attempt to log in again to the IBM Cloud Administrative Console. You should see the following screen shot, which contains a Resend link to have the confirmation email resent to your address.

Account recovery

Q: Your trial account status shows that it is canceled. Can you still recover my data?
When a trial account expires, the trial account is removed from our system along with all data 30 days after the expiration date. Therefore, if your trial account status is canceled, it means the trial ended at least 30 days ago and the data has been removed. The data for canceled accounts cannot be recovered.

If you have a IBM Cloud subscription or a Pay-Per-Use account, you can request an invoice through the Invoices site.
Use the same IBM ID and password that you use to log into IBM Cloud. Click Sign in / Sign up to Invoices. For more information about Invoices, access the IBM Customer Support web site, select your region, and click Learn more about invoices under the Invoices section.

Q: How can you change the credit card information in your Pay-As-You-Go account?
The answer to this question depends on whether you have linked your IBM Cloud platform account to an IBM Cloud infrastructure (SoftLayer) account.

If you purchased this account through IBM Cloud/Bluemix Sales, you need to contact IBM Cloud Sales.

If you did not purchase the account through IBM Cloud/Bluemix Sales and have not linked your IBM Cloud platform account to an IBM Cloud infrastructure account, you can update the information through the Manage Payment Methods Application. The Manage Payment Method Application allows you to register a new card, update an existing card, or remove an existing card. Log in to the Manage Payments Method Application with your IBM ID and password, which is the same authentication information for IBM Cloud. Alternatively, you can call eCustomer Care to update this information.

If you have linked your IBM Cloud platform account to an IBM Cloud infrastructure account, you can update the information directly through the IBM Cloud Administrative Console. Click Manage > Billing and Usage > Modify Payment Method. See the following screen capture for an illustration.

Q: How can you verify that your IBM Cloud invoice has been paid?
Open a request with Accounts Receivables to confirm payment of your IBM Cloud Invoice. To obtain the method to contact support from your geographical area, follow these steps:

Q: How can you cancel your IBM Cloud account?
Although we do not want to see you go, see the following information about the cancellation process for the various account types:

Subscriptions: A subscription account is an agreement between you and IBM to use the IBM Cloud under a specific pricing structure. You cannot cancel your account while your subscription is in effect. However, you can open a Support ticket to request that your subscription terminate at the end of the contract period. See Getting customer support for information on opening a ticket.

Pay-Per-Use accounts in which an IBM Cloud platform and an IBM Cloud infrastructure account are linked: To cancel this type of account, you must open a Support ticket; you cannot cancel through the IBM Cloud Administrative Console. In the Support ticket, you must state what you want to cancel. You have the option of canceling your IBM Cloud infrastructure (IaaS formerly SoftLayer), IBM Cloud platform (PaaS), or both the IaaS and PaaS parts of the account.

Trial and Pay-Per-Use accounts that are not linked to an IBM Cloud infrastructure account: You can cancel your account directly through the IBM Cloud Administrative Console. Complete the following steps:

Log in to IBM Cloud with your IBM ID and password.

Click Manage > Billing and Usage > Billing.

Scroll down to the Deactivate your Account section of the page.

Click Deactivate this account.

See the following screen shot:

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